The cost to defend themselves agianst any real court action is MINISCULE compared to the lost revenues they have experienced in a pull out from the US market and the terrible drubbing the stocks took as a result.
Fear is what is motivating companies to do these foolish things not business sense or economics. I am sorry, but it would be virtually impossible to rack up $300 million dollars in legal fees for a case of this type. An army of lawyers at $500 per hour could spend years on it and they would ultimately prevail.
Bailing out of the US market or paying blackmail on the odd chance of gaining re-entry once you have admitted guilt is rediculous. It’s not good to run as a legal precedent, it destroys the shareholders value, it causes the loss of thousands of jobs and it accomplishs nothing of any real worth for anyone. It’s absurd from a business/cost/benefit/ratio. And it does NOT prevent civil or criminal actions from being filed anyway.